[organicpapayamama]

He just turned 1 and says a few words. Actually he has been able to say a few words in the past but now hardly says them. Im concerned because they are really real words. The most he used to say was "mom" and "agua" (water in spanish) and "che che" (leche or milk in spanish). He only really says che che now.... he doesnt really follow commands yet like if I point to something for him to bring it. he did it once. He doesnt understand simple questions like where is your nose.... he cant point to it or anything. when I say "say bye bye" he does wave. I know kids develop differently but I cant help but worry. I read these books like "your baby should be able to do XYZ at this age..." what is your experience with 1 yo and speech?

 

[Krisis]

My 14 month old doesn't say anything yet. I figure I'll start to worry at 16 months or so

 

[sarahtdubb]

omg, I love your screenname organicpapayamama!

I think 12 mos is still young for words, directions, etc. At 12 mos my ds was not doing any of that... now at 18 mos he still has only a few words, which is in the range of normal, but follows directions very well, etc.

FYI, my pediatrician office has a little web page about development... the things you mention aren't mentioned until 15 months.

 

[organicpapayamama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahtdubb omg, I love your screenname organicpapayamama! I think 12 mos is still young for words, directions, etc. At 12 mos my ds was not doing any of that... now at 18 mos he still has only a few words, which is in the range of normal, but follows directions very well, etc. FYI, my pediatrician office has a little web page about development... the things you mention aren't mentioned until 15 months.

Thanks

I know he is still very young but you know us mamas worry about everything!!! esp as a first time mama.... DS loves to read books.... ok not actually read but you know what I mean so I thought his speech would begin a bit sooner. I guess Im reading the wrong books cuz this book says that DS at 1 should be able to point to his nose when I say where is your nose...sheesh!! thanks for the reassurance mamas!

oh and thanks for the link it was most helpful!

 

[Theoretica]

I can understand being concerned if the words have stopped, but I think this early it's normal.

bbDD (she'll be one this sunday!) does this too. She picks up a skill, works on it for a week or so, then drops it in favor of something else. Consistently she can wave bye bye/hi, sign milk, give me (same sign basically), eat/drink, up, she shakes her head 'no', and 'yes'. She can SAY Da da (daddy), DeeDee (her sister), DayDa (duck duck...her favorite creature EVER), 'uh ohhhh' when she throws things, and ooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh when something interesting happens.

She used to sign 'more' and a few others but has lapsed in those over the last few weeks. She CAN say mama but usually doesn't unless she's furious. Go figure lol

HTH mama

 

[kiwiva]

At 12 mos my DD didn't have many words at all (and only a few signs). At 16 months I was watching this 16 mo old on tv actually read words (totally abnormal of course) and I was thinking huh, my kid can't say any of those words. I wasn't worried but hearing about what other kids her age were saying I was thinking wow, she isn't talking like that at all.

At 19 months she started talking like a mad woman and advanced super fast. At her 2 year visit, I think her doc asked if I thought she had 30 words and I was like 30? More like 300, really. I think some just save it up until they really have a lot to say. Also are you bilingual? I noticed you mentioned Spanish words. I have read that some kids in bilingual environments can talk a little later but they don't end up behind at all. Multiple languages (including sign) is really helpful for the development of their brains! All those development checklists are just averages. A lot of kids are earlier and later than those guidelines; there is wide variation.

 

[organicpapayamama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwiva At 12 mos my DD didn't have many words at all (and only a few signs). At 16 months I was watching this 16 mo old on tv actually read words (totally abnormal of course) and I was thinking huh, my kid can't say any of those words. I wasn't worried but hearing about what other kids her age were saying I was thinking wow, she isn't talking like that at all. At 19 months she started talking like a mad woman and advanced super fast. At her 2 year visit, I think her doc asked if I thought she had 30 words and I was like 30? More like 300, really. I think some just save it up until they really have a lot to say. Also are you bilingual? I noticed you mentioned Spanish words. I have read that some kids in bilingual environments can talk a little later but they don't end up behind at all. Multiple languages (including sign) is really helpful for the development of their brains! All those development checklists are just averages. A lot of kids are earlier and later than those guidelines; there is wide variation.

yes I am bilingual and am teaching DS to be as well. Ive heard that too that it might take a little longer for bilingual kids....

 

[Boot]

For what it's worth my ds had basically no words at 12 months (he called everything dada) but at 16 months he had about 100. Now at 24 months his vocabulary is absolutely uncountable and he talks in long, grammatically correct sentences. I think 3 or less words at 12 months is completely the norm.

 

[Llyra]

None of my kids were really talking at all at a year old. DD2 had a few inconsistent words sometimes, but that's it. Some kids are talking at that age, but an awful lot of very normal intelligent kids don't say their first words until later. So if your DS is saying anything at all, he's doing great. My DD1 used to do that, where she'd say a bunch of things, and then stop saying them for a long, long time.

When would I be concerned?

at 12 months (or any time after that), if a child doesn't seem to understand anything you say to them, or isn't communicating non-verbally by pointing or gesturing
at 18 months, if a child isn't saying any words at all
at 2 years old, if a child isn't putting two words together to make a phrase

 

[treehouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by organicpapayamama yes I am bilingual and am teaching DS to be as well. Ive heard that too that it might take a little longer for bilingual kids....

My little guy is 2 1/2 now and I don't think he *really* started vocalizing until at least 18mo or so. We're also bilingual - Spanish and English. I've also read that bilingual babies tend to develop language skills later than other babies.

Two things that I've learned - (1)When I took him to his 15mo well checkup the PED immediately recommended speech therapy for him because of his *lack* of verbal development.... I ignored her. (2)Patience. Like I said, he's now 2 1/2, and chats away - in both languages - incessantly. He also understands both of us when we speak to him in either language.

So, I wouldn't worry about words yet. Your babe sounds just fine to me - and it's important to remember that all kids develop at their own pace and there is no *set norm* to follow, regardless of what you hear or read.

 

[EdnaMarie]

You are at the worrying stage, when it seems like EVERYONE'S baby is talking but yours. I remember it well.

We didn't have our normal pediatrician at the one-year visit and the other one said that she was "behind" and suggested a hearing test and evaluation if she didn't have any new words within a month. I consulted another doctor and learned that at one, they are not necessarily supposed to have any words at all. Mine had exactly zero real words and a couple of baby words (also not in English, but in my husband's language). I assure you that now she is one of the most talkative and verbal children I know.

I agree that no words or signs at 18 months would be more worrying, but two or three baby words at one year is plenty. Don't worry, when it clicks, it really does start going fast and all those words and languages start filling up their little brains and it's so fun and amazing to watch!

 

[justmama]

Grace is 15months and says mama, dada, cat, doggie, up, and uh oh. That's it. And doggie and uh oh are recent within the last week. But she signs more, eat, nurse/milk as well. Because she wasn't babbling at 11months she was evaluated by Early Intervention and they said that she was attempting communication with her signs(which she started doing at 9months) so they counted them as words. So she was okay there. If she wasn't speaking any words at 18 months they would be concerned. She babbles NOW but she is just a really quiet kid who is more of a watcher than a do-er so she didn't speak until she had words to tell you.

So it's not out of the realm of possibility that your son is just holding out until he perfects the words before performing for you.

: He could just be concerned more with large motor skills or fine motor skills than language skills right now. But I don't think he's got a problem.
Grace isn't pointing to things like you mention him doing. She can't tell you where her nose is or point to the chair or the banana for example. She knows what you are talking about but she cannot follow the command for "show me where the banana is." She follows other simple commands like, "please sit on your bottom" but she couldn't begin to point things out in a storybook.

Oh and if you are bi-lingual, that's a sticking point too. He's still sorting through languages and two words for one object so he may speak later than his peers who only have one language to learn. He will catch up very very quickly once he does figure it out and it's a wonderful thing to teach him at a young age but it takes a little longer to figure out.

 

[organicpapayamama]

thank you so much mamas for your replies. I feel better now. I am curious though about babys that use signs to communicate. Is this something that is taught or something they do on their own. I have to be honest, I dont know too much about that. One friend of mine mentioned teaching her DD that... but Im not sure if thats how it goes for everyone. My DS doesnt sign at all, he reaches for thing he wants like his bottle when its on the counter but doesnt actually point to it.... once again, is this ok?

 

[ChampagneBlossom]

IF he's pointing, that's OK for one year olds. If he has one word other than mama/dada, that's also OK.

I had a son with a very very very late speech delay, and pointing delay as well... at one year old he was MONTHS away from pointing, or even saying mama. He is now doing pretty well at 25 months but he IS in therapy. Your LO sounds nothing like him.

He sounds just fine and normal and dandy.

My 14 month old girl has a couple of words and we're thrilled that she's on track.

She's certainly not speaking in sentences like some other 1 year olds but she's right where she should be I think.

Oh, and about signs... Both DS and DD love Signing Time videos. When we tried to sign with DS he didn't "get it" despite doing it for months. When someone else showed him the same things we were doing, he picked it up in one session.

It really helped him out though, and he still signs a lot.

 

[mamadelbosque]

My DS didn't really talk at *all* untill 20-22 months. Untill then he said mama, and da but that was about it. Then all of a sudden around 20-23 months he exploded and started saying all sorts of things. Hes now almost 25 months and is talking up a storm

Still not many sentences but lots and lots and lots of individual words and phrases (i found it, good morning, bye have fun, etc).

 

[RoundAbout]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie You are at the worrying stage, when it seems like EVERYONE'S baby is talking but yours. I remember it well. We didn't have our normal pediatrician at the one-year visit and the other one said that she was "behind" and suggested a hearing test and evaluation if she didn't have any new words within a month. I consulted another doctor and learned that at one, they are not necessarily supposed to have any words at all. Mine had exactly zero real words and a couple of baby words (also not in English, but in my husband's language). I assure you that now she is one of the most talkative and verbal children I know.

This happened to me too! I went in for the hearing test thinking it was routine and felt blindsided and was really annoyed by the whole "intervention process."

At 12 months my son, in addition to lots of babbling, only said "dat" (that), which he used probably a hundred times a day when pointing at stuff. My peds big concern was that he didn't say mama or dada as if somehow those were the only acceptable first words. I think some people take those What to Expect books a little too literally

For the record my son had his language explosion at 18 months and was speaking in sentences by 20 months (I remember because I was visiting family that month and they seemed really surprised). Now at 28 months he speaks in very clearly and in complex sentences and seems way ahead compared to kids in his play group.

Really 12 months is too early to worry, but I totally know what it feels like.

 

[Storm Bride]

I haven't read past the OP, but I'll relate the way things went with ds2, as we actually thought about speech therapy for him:

1 year old: No words

18 months old: "mama" and one other word (can't remember it).

A few months later, he stopped saying both of those, and started saying, "cheese" - that was it. It meant both "cheese" and "food".

At 24 months, he picked up 3-4 new words during a family vacation...and stopped using them again a few weeks later.

At 27 months, we were starting to worry, but hadn't got around to doing anything about speech therapy (I was pregnant and finding it hard to get off my butt about stuff).

So...one morning, ds2 held up a fork and said, "fork"...then a spoon, and said "spoon"...then pointed to his plate, and said "plate". He moved on to "table", "chair" and "floor". A few minutes later, he asked for a drink of "water".

That was Monday or Tuesday. On Friday afternoon, dh suddenly yelled from the other room, "What's up with this kid? He has like a hundred word vocabulary". I said, "more." DS2 is now our official chatterbox...and that's even allowing for the fact that both ds1 and dd are very verbal.

I think it's always good to keep an eye on things, especially if a child seems to be "behind" the developmental milestones, but some children just do things their own way, on their own time, and don't fit into the usual patterns.

 

[kirstenb]

At 12 months DS said Mama. At around 16 months he had maybe 4 words (woof, mama, uh-oh, ball). At 18 months he had a few more. Now at 22 months he has maybe 25-30 words he says consistently. He has just started picking up more words in the last few weeks. I never really worried too much as he understands everything we say. He has no problem following directions. We understand what he wants most of the time. We also speak to him a lot in Spanish so that might have something to do with it.

 

[swd12422]

At 12 mos, we only had "mama" and "doggie" I think. At 15 months, he now has a half-dozen words and another half-dozen signs that he uses. He's stopped using some of his original words and is using others now instead. At his 15 month checkup, the doc asked him where his ears are. He has no idea. Nose is the only one he knows! I'm not worried, though. Just b/c they don't perform circus pony tricks on command doesn't mean they're not picking up things to be used against you later!

 

[blessed.mommy]

I was wondering the same thing. Jack says Mama and Dada but that's about it. Sometimes he'll say hi.

Awe, Organicpapayamama, our boys were born on the same day!